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Heartwings Love Notes 1015 - January has Two Faces

Heartwings says, "It is important to choose our view with consciousness."

The Roman god Janus gave his name to January. He is the god of doorways and transitions and invoked at beginnings, as well as placed at the gateways or doorways of homes. His head is always depicted with two faces. One face looks forward at the year to come, the other looks backward at the year that has been. In January, at the beginning of the year, we too can look in both directions. This can help us to put our lives into perspective and give us a helpful way to assess where we have been in 2021, and how we might proceed in 2022.

Although there is no going back to redo the past, it is important to review it: those who do not remember past errors are doomed to repeat them, something most would prefer not to do. We need to take the time to both observe and assess the past, though we need not, must not dwell there nor criticize ourselves for mistakes made. What matters is what we have learned.

It is even more important that we keep track of the past than that we make resolutions for the future. This is because we generally build our resolutions on our failures, do we not? We wish to lose weight gained, or eradicate our lackadaisical attitude toward exercise or do whatever we failed to accomplish for ourselves or others. This is what we use to build our new year's resolutions. However, what is to prevent us from making the same past mistakes if we do not see them as lessons and learning situations?

Attempting correction by resolution may only make easier to fall back into. The other face of Janus, the one looking to the future is where we place our resolutions. Unfortunately, rather than looking to the future, if we are still fixated upon the past, our resolutions are built upon unresolved conditions from the past. Thus, they remain ineffective or even ignored. Additionally, projecting our wants into the future may keep us from enjoying the unexpected or unplanned events that await us. Instead, we need to practice openness and acceptance for the future.

Most importantly, both past and future need to be perceived with gratitude. That which we appreciate is more likely to become useful or helpful, as our openness to whatever it is helps us to see it better. When our personal vision is unclouded by either fear or desire, it is clearer. The two faces of January would indicate to us to gaze upon the past with gratitude, both for lessons learned and for gifts given, and to gaze upon the future with gratitude also, for lessons to be learned and for blessings to be given. The key to success with our attitude at the beginning of January, is to view both our future and our past years with detachment and with appreciation.

May you find a glorious future with joyful acceptance. Happy New Year
Got any easy recipes to share? Food stories to tell? I so appreciate your comments and thoughts. Please write to me at tashahal@aol.com, and for more love notes, check out www.heartwingsandfriends.com. Thanks!
 

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Blessings and Best Regards,
Tasha Halpert
 

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